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Pretoria's golden Gospel Book: a study of a luxury seventeenth-century Armenian manuscript Carol Steyn Research fellow, Department of Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology, University of South Africa E-mail: steynfc@lantic .net A 17th century Armenian manuscript, a Gospel Book, has been in Pretoria in what is now the Na­ tional Cultural History Museum since 1897 and has never been displayed or studied. It is a particu­ larly luxuriously illustrated manuscript that was bought by Pres. Kruger and his executive commit­ tee from an Armenian fugitive. Its presence in South Africa is surprising since there has never been more than 200 Armenians in the country. The history of the manuscript is explained and the manu­ script is examined in detail in the context of similar Armenian Gospel Books elsewhere in the world. Keywords: Armenian, manuscript, Gospel Book, Gospels, President Kruger, illuminations, scribe. Pretoria se goue Evangeliarium: 'n studie van 'n luukse Armeense manuskrip. 'n Sewentiende eeuse Armeense manuskrip, 'n Evangeliarium, is sedert 1897 in Pretoria in wat nou die Nasionale Kultuurhistoriese Museum is, en is nooit vertoon of bestudeer nie. Dit is 'n besonder luuks geillustreerde manuskrip wat deur President Kruger en sy uitvoerende komitee van 'n Armeense vlugteling gekoop is. Die teenwoordigheid daarvan in Suid-Afrika is verbasend aangesien daar nog nooit meer as 200 Armeniers in Suid-Afrika was nie. Die geskiedenis van die manuskrip word verduidelik en die manuskrip word in besonderhede ondersoek in die verband van soortgelyke Armeense Evangeliaria elders in die wereld. Sleutelwoorde: Armeens, manuskrip, Evangeliarium, evangelies, President Kruger, illuminasies, skribent. richly illustrated 17th century Armenian manuscript, a Gospel Book, has been lying on a shelf in the Cultural History Museum in Pretoria since 1897. After Ait was bought by President Paul Kruger and his executive committee from an Armenian fugitive in that year (National Cultural History Museum, Pretoria, Minute R. 4534/97), it has been almost totally ignored. It has never been displayed and never studied, although it has on a few occasions been briefly mentioned in popular journals. It is a luxury manuscript. The rich colours, the quantity of gold leaf as well as the quality of the vellum and the calligraphy, mark it as a particularly well-preserved specimen of a book produced for a member of the nobility or the church and must have cost an astronomical sum (Nordenfalk 1963: 17). It is a very late manuscript, written just before the first Armenian Bible was printed in Amsterdam in 1666 (Nersessian 1987:6). Even in the eighteenth century Armenian scribes were still using the same forms and styles as in the fourteenth-century, however, because of the way in which these embellished a manuscript (Sanjian 1999: 32). Early history The early history of the manuscript can be traced through the long colophon written by the scribe at the end of the book. The scribe, Stephanos Ilovatsi, wrote on pages 607 to 609 that he is a philologist and a linguist and a writer of many books. He was therefore given "the honorary pearl", referring to the exemplar, to write this Gospel Book. "I have studied, I have the scholarship, and I wanted to write the four Gospels," he said (p.607). I studied this art with the priest (vardapet) Moses, loved by me... I first finished the writing and then painted these golden pictures of mine. I have completed everything. I have done everything. I completed it in 16611 and began it when Jacob (Hakop) came to the throne of Vagharshapat.2 I started the writing of this book in order to praise Jesus Christ... I did the work for my parents and my entire family. I leave this book that is a vivid dream of mine and give it to the Church of the Holy Virgin in the capital Vagharshapat, for the illumination of the Children of the Church. I give it in memory of me and my parents, my father Vardan and mother Catharina, my brothers and sisters and others of my family alive and dead... I was brave enough to take this Evangeliary to the church and received a present from the Catholicos (pp. 608 and 609). SAJAH, ISSN 0258-3542, volume 22, number 3,2007: 218-237. The colophon ends with a blessing to the reader.3 Because of the large expanses of unblemished and still glittering goldleaf that glistens from the many illuminations and decorations, the book can quite correctly be described as "golden". How the manuscript came to South Africa The presence of the two manuscripts in Pretoria is surprising, since South Africa has an Armenian population of not more than 200 that has never been substantially larger.4 Moreover, South Africa, being far from centres of manuscript production, is not rich in early manuscript sources. Apart from the well-discussed Grey Collection there are few manuscripts from the 17th century and before in any library or museum in South Africa. The Grey Collection was a gift to the South African Library (now the National Library) in Cape Town from Sir George Grey, governor of the Cape from 1854 to 1861, when he was transferred to New Zealand, and includes 114 medieval and Renaissance manuscripts.5 There are certainly no other early Armenian manuscripts in South Africa. The Gospel book, together with a 15th century Armenian Hymnal.6, was offered for sale to Dr N. Mansveldt, the then Minister of Education and director of the Pretoria Library, by Mr. Y. Agopian in 1897. Mr Agopian said that he had been a dealer in music instruments in Constantinople, and had fled after the massacres of the Armenians (National Cultural History Museum, Pretoria, Minute R. 4534/97). In a letter in French of 14 March 1897, he wrote: I am waiting impatiently to have favourable news on the subject of my two Armenian manuscripts that have remained my only and last hope... I believe that the minimum price of £250 which I propose is not an unreasonable price and Your Excellency may even be of the opinion that only the church hymns of the 10th century (sic) has a higher value than that sum. I therefore pray, Monsieur the Minister, that you will have the extreme goodness to take into consideration my state of embarrassment to do me the big favour and to help me to obtain that sum which would make me almost forget that which has happened and so that I would have a little capital since I have to live very poorly and carry the care of my nieces who have become orphans and lost their father in the terrible massacre of Constantinople... (National Cultural History Museum, Pretoria, HC824, Annexure B). At a meeting of the Executive Committee (Uitvoerende Raad) presided over by President Kruger it was decided to buy the two 'Bibles' (Bijbels) for £120 (National Cultural History Museum, Pretoria, Minute R. 4534/97). Armenian manuscripts in general While Armenia belonged to the world of medieval Christendom, its culture was Iranian based. It was converted early to Christianity: the conversion of King Trdat at the turn of the fourth century, 12 years before the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in 313 A.D., was just one step in a process that had been long under way. Armenian religious sympathies lay with Christian Byzantium while its social structures were patterned after Iranian feudalism. In this situation Christianity had a somewhat autonomous evolution. Eventually alienated from Byzantium by the council of Chalcedon, the Armenian church held tenaciously to some of the earliest traditions of the new religion and developed them along its own lines (Mathews and Sanjian 1991: 1). After the fall of the Armenian kingdom in Cilicia, in 1375, the nation centered all its cultural, literary, religious and political life within the church (Gulesserian 1970: II). The artistic evidence of Armenia is surprisingly plentiful. While other artistic traditions of the Christian east, such as the Coptic and the Syrian, faded with the rise of Islam, Armenia produced abundant works throughout the Middle Ages. Only neighbouring Georgia can be compared in quantity of artistic output. Illustrated manuscripts comprise the largest and most 219 impressive body of Armenian art, occupying a place of honor not unlike that of icons in the Byzantine world. Commissioned at great expense, manuscripts were preserved as precious church treasures and family heirlooms (Mathews and Sanjian 1991: 1). Of these manuscripts the Gospel book is the most important (Nordenfalk 1963: 17). The four Gospels are preeminent among the books of the Bible, since they gave meaning to all the rest (Mathews and Sanjian 1991: 81). Armenian manuscript production started at the beginning of the fifth century with the invention of the Armenian alphabet by St. Mashtots. From the beginning, some manuscripts were illustrated. From the tenth century on there was an uninterrupted and ever more plentiful series of illustrated works extending to the eighteenth century (Mathews 1994: 38,41). Although political independence often eluded the Armenians, and eventually invasions and deportation diminished their presence in their native homeland, their sense of national identity was always strong. Their illuminated manuscripts played a key role in preserving this cultural continuity, transmitting religious doctrine, historical record and a blaze of brilliant images (Mathews and Wieck 1994: xiii). It is estimated that there are now 25,000 extant Armenian manuscripts, which represent only a small fraction of the codices copied throughout the centuries in the numerous scriptoria that dotted the map of historic Armenia and the Armenian diaspora. This estimate does not include fragments, the oldest of which are from the fifth and sixth centuries A.D., the folios used as endpapers in manuscript bindings, or those codices which are executed after the eighteenth century.

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